WHAT HAPPENED: Back from the brink. To the delight of the very vocal, pro-Canadian contingent in the stands on Court 5, Leylah Fernandez showed impressive resilience and trademark grit coming back from a set down to defeat world No. 93 Elsa Jacquemot, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Fernandez now advances to the third round of the US Open for the first time since she reached the women’s singles final in 2021.
Earlier this summer at a WTA 500 tournament in Washington, D.C., Fernandez showed glimpses of the imperious form that propelled her to that 2021 final, recording wins over Jessica Pegula, 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and Anna Kalinskaya to lift her first tour-level trophy since 2023. Undoubtedly, she was one to watch coming into the fortnight.
Initially, though, Jacquemot—the 2020 Roland Garros girls’ champion—had other plans. She stayed aggressive and dialed in on her serve, while Fernandez, going for too much, committed too many unforced errors. (She’d produce 16 off her racquet by set’s end.) The higher-ranked player wouldn’t hold serve until she was down 5-1 in the opener, and by then, it was too little, too late. Serving to take the set, Jacquemot displayed some impressive prowess at the net to quickly stave off any chance of a comeback, and she ultimately claimed the set off a backhand return error from her opponent.
Early in the second, Fernandez reined in the errors and began to better connect on her shots. Bouncing inside the court and taking the ball early like she did when she gritted out four three-set wins in a row versus seeded opponents en route to the final in 2021, the Canadian broke the French player at 2-2 and then drew her into a protracted 18-point service game down 2-5. Jacquemot saved two set points and held, but the effort was ultimately delaying the inevitable: Fernandez would even the score and take the match to a decider with a forehand winner in her very next service game.
Fernandez picked up right where she left off in the third, flying around the court and breaking Jacquemot in the first game as she committed to rushing the net at every opportunity. She simply was not missing like she was in the first set, which made it difficult for Jacquemot to make any inroads. Fernandez broke Jacquemot again and capably held her serve—producing three winners in that final game—to earn her spot in the third round.
WHAT IT MEANS: Fernandez could next meet world No. 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the third round. The Canadian is one of the rare players to lead her head-to-head with the defending US Open champion. Of course, they have only played one time—but that one time came inside Arthur Ashe Stadium in the semifinals of the US Open.
Should she come through that battle, a potential rematch of the 2021 US Open final with Emma Raducanu looms in the quarterfinals.
MATCH POINT: How pronounced was the difference between sets one and two for Fernandez? She hit eight winners in the first… and 21 in the second.
